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Gary Oldman Quotes

Gary Leonard Oldman (born 21 March 1958) is an English screen and stage actor, filmmaker and musician. He rose to prominence in Britain after playing Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy (1986), and Joe Orton in Prick Up Your Ears (1987), for which he received a BAFTA Award for Best Actor nomination; those performances led pre-eminent film critic Roger Ebert to describe Oldman as “the best young British actor around”. He gained international renown as Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991) and Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), winning the Saturn Award for Best Actor for the latter. Oldman went on to play the antagonist of motion pictures such as True Romance (1993), Léon: The Professional (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), Air Force One (1997), and The Contender (2000), for which he garnered Independent Spirit- and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

1. WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF ME IS NONE OF MY BUSINESS.

2. POLITICAL CORRECTNESS HAS BECOME A STRAIGHT JACKET.

3. GROWING UP IN A PARTICULAR NEIGHBORHOOD, GROWING UP IN A WORKING-CLASS FAMILY, NOT HAVING MUCH MONEY, ALL OF THOSE THINGS FIRE YOU AND CAN GIVE YOU AN EDGE, CAN GIVE YOU AN ANGER.

4. THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SPIES. WE HAVE TO HAVE THEM. WITHOUT THEM WE WOULDN’T HAVE GOT OSAMA BIN LADEN – IT TOOK US YEARS, BUT IT HAPPENED.

5. OVERALL I ENJOY A CERTAIN ANONYMITY. I LIVE A VERY NORMAL, VERY ORDINARY LIFE.

6. IT’S FUNNY: I’M A LIFELONG MUSICIAN, BUT BECAUSE I PRINCIPALLY PLAY THE PIANO IT’S BEEN A SOLITARY THING.

7. AND OF COURSE I’VE GOT KIDS OF MY OWN NOW, AND THEY LOVE ME BEING IN THE HARRY POTTER FILMS. I’M NOW PART OF A PHENOMENON. YOU BECOME INCREDIBLY COOL TO YOUR KIDS, AND YOU GET A YOUNG FAN BASE. SO YOU BECAME THE COOL DAD AT SCHOOL. YOU’RE SUDDENLY HIP.

8. AT 23 IT WAS ALL ABOUT ACTING. TODAY IT’S GETTING MY KIDS TO SCHOOL, MAKING SURE THAT THEY’VE DONE THEIR HOMEWORK. I’M IN MY FIFTIES, AND I’M TURNING INTO A SQUARE.

9. I DON’T GO TO PREMIERES. I DON’T GO TO PARTIES. I DON’T COVET THE OSCAR. I DON’T WANT ANY OF THAT. I DON’T GO OUT. I JUST HAVE DINNER AT HOME EVERY NIGHT WITH MY KIDS. BEING FAMOUS, THAT’S A WHOLE OTHER CAREER. AND I HAVEN’T GOT ANY ENERGY FOR IT.

10. SHAKESPEARE DOESN’T REALLY WRITE SUBTEXT, YOU PLAY THE SUBTEXT.

11. I GOT OBSESSED WITH CLASSICAL MUSIC, I GOT OBSESSED WITH CHOPIN, WITH PLAYING THE PIANO.

12. WANTING TO BE A GOOD ACTOR IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. YOU MUST WANT TO BE A GREAT ACTOR. YOU JUST HAVE TO HAVE THAT.

13. RATHER LIKE BATMAN, I EMBODY THE THEMES OF THE MOVIE WHICH ARE THE VALUES OF FAMILY, COURAGE AND COMPASSION AND A SENSE OF RIGHT AND WRONG, GOOD AND BAD AND JUSTICE.

14. AND COSTUME IS SO IMPORTANT FOR AN ACTOR. IT ABSOLUTELY HELPS TO GET INTO CHARACTER; IT’S THE CLOSEST THING TO YOU, IT TOUCHES YOU. SOME ACTORS LIKE TO GO INTO MAKE-UP AND THEN PUT THEIR CLOTHES ON, BUT I LIKE TO DRESS FIRST; THAT’S MY ROUTINE.

15. YOU CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS BY THEIR CHARACTER AND YOUR SOCKS BY THEIR COLOR.

16. I ENJOY PLAYING CHARACTERS WHERE THE SILENCE IS LOUD.

17. SPEAKING VERY GENERALLY, I FIND THAT WOMEN ARE SPIRITUALLY, EMOTIONALLY, AND OFTEN PHYSICALLY STRONGER THAN MEN.

18. MY FAVORITE MEAL WOULD HAVE TO BE GOOD OLD-FASHIONED EGGS, OVER EASY, WITH BACON. MANY OTHERS, BUT YOU CAN’T BEAT THAT ON A SUNDAY MORNING, ESPECIALLY WITH A CUP OF TEA.

19. GETTING SOBER WAS ONE OF THE THREE PIVOTAL EVENTS IN MY LIFE, ALONG WITH BECOMING AN ACTOR AND HAVING A CHILD. OF THE THREE, FINDING MY SOBRIETY WAS THE HARDEST THING.

20. MY PASSION AND ENERGY GET MISTAKEN FOR ANGER.

21. I DID HAVE A KNACK FOR PLAYING WEIRDOS. THERE’S STILL SORT OF THIS PERCEPTION OF ME OUT THERE AS BEING THIS CRAZY GUY.

22. I’M ALMOST INCAPABLE OF LYING. I’D BE A TERRIBLE SPY.

23. PEOPLE WHO KNOW ME , THEY KNOW I HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR, I’M A BIT OF A JOKER, A BIT OF A CLOWN REALLY, AND I WOULD LOVE SOMEONE TO EXPLOIT THAT SIDE OF ME AND SEND ME A ROMANTIC COMEDY.

24. BEING AN ACTOR IS A GOOD WAY TO EARN A LIVING. AND TO MEET FABULOUS PEOPLE. IT’S GREAT TO LIVE VERY COMFORTABLY. I’VE BEEN LUCKY, I’VE HAD A LOT OF FUN WITH GREAT ROLES, BUT IT IS TRUE THAT IF I WERE EXTREMELY RICH, I WOULD STOP AND I WOULD GO TO PLAY FOOTBALL ON A BEACH IN THE CARIBBEAN WITH MY CHILDREN.